Movie Review: Twilight of a Woman's Soul (Sumerki zhenskoi dushi)

Twilight of a Woman's Soul (Sumerki zhenskoi dushi)

"Star" Film Factory (A. Khanzhonkov and Pathé Frères). Russia, 1913. 

Aristocrat lady Vera Dubovskaja (Nina Chernova) feels lonely. His mother the Countess asks her to accompany her when she visits the poor. Vera Decides to devote her life to helping the poor. Apprentice Maxim (V. Demert) becomes obsessed with Vera. He exploits the benefactor and rapes her. Vera stabs Maxim to death. 

Vera Dubovskaja

Maxim

Vera visits the poor

After returning home and recovering Vera is introduced to Prince Dolskij (A. Ugrjumov). Later the Prince proposes Vera, but the guilty conscience haunts her. The Prince promises to love her despite what ever she has done. After the wedding Vera tells everything and the Prince gets furious. Vera leaves. Later Prince regrets and hires a private detective to find Vera but she has gone abroad. Vere becomes an independent actor and the Prince loses his will to live.

Prince Dolskij

The past haunts Vera

The Prince gets furious

The works of Evgenii (or Yevgeni) Bauer were hidden in the Russian archives until the last days of Soviet regime. He had a brief but productive career before his premature death caused by health complications. In 1913-1917 he made 80 movies of which little over 20 survived. His style was influential to later Russian cinema and nowadays he is respected as a pioneer filmmaker.

Many of his films were tragic romances. "Twilight of a Woman's Soul" is his earliest surviving film. The use of lighting is innovative and the psychological drama is effective. The sets are well decorated with sumptuous aristocrat apartments and mirthless worker housings. Some double exposure tricks are used in dream scene. The story is quite straightforward (whole film is only 49 minutes) but the actors convey the emotions effectively.

Part of The 2016 Movie Watching Challenge (#18. Movie that is made over 100 years ago)

Rating: Good

Starring: Nina Chernova, A. Ugrjumov, V. Demert, Vitali Brianski

Director: Evgenii Bauer